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 Valdano in 2018 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jorge Alberto Francisco Valdano Castellanos | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1955-10-04)4 October 1955 (age 70) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Las Parejas, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1973–1975 | Newell's Old Boys | 46 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 1975–1979 | Alavés | 105 | (20) | ||||||||||||||
| 1979–1984 | Real Zaragoza | 143 | (46) | ||||||||||||||
| 1984–1987 | Real Madrid | 85 | (40) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 379 | (117) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1975–1990 | Argentina | 23 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Real Madrid (youth) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Tenerife | ||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Real Madrid | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Valencia | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Jorge Alberto Francisco Valdano Castellanos (born 4 October 1955) is an Argentine formerfootball player, coach, and the former general manager ofReal Madrid. He is currently working as a commentator forbeIN Sports. Nicknamed "The Philosopher of Football",[1] he played as aforward.
With theArgentina national team, Valdano took part at the1975 Copa América as well as the1982 and1986FIFA World Cups, the latter of which Argentina won. He had a major influence in the 1986 win, scoring four goals in the tournament, including Argentina's second goal againstWest Germany in thefinal. In total, he earned 23caps for his nation between 1975 and 1990, scoring seven goals.
Although he initially played forNewell's Old Boys,Alavés andReal Zaragoza, his most successful period at club level was at Real Madrid, where he wonLa Liga twice, theCopa de la Liga and twoUEFA Cups. As a manager, he coached Spanish sidesTenerife, Real Madrid andValencia. Considered a benchmark for the way he addressed various football clubs, Valdano participated in 2013 at the World Leadership Forum and in the World Business Forum inMexico City, where he associated the world of sports and business behind it, where he listed the 11 powers of leadership, based on his last book.
Valdano started playing when he was 16 years old for Rosario's clubNewell's Old Boys, where he also started playing professionally, as well as with the Argentina national football team, in 1972.
In 1975, he was transferred toAlavés of the SpanishSegunda División, where he played until 1979. In that year, he moved toReal Zaragoza of thePrimera División, and then toReal Madrid in 1984, playing with theQuinta del Buitre. He helped them win theUEFA Cup in1985 and1986, scoring once in the1985 final and twice in the1986 final.
Stricken byhepatitis, he decided to retire in 1988 and became a sportscommentator. His last official match for Real was 4-2 defeat against Red Star Belgrade on 4th of March 1987.
Valdano played 23 times for theArgentina national team between 1975 and 1990, scoring seven goals, four of them in the1986 FIFA World Cup, including one againstWest Germany in thefinal, which Argentina went on to win. Other than the 1986 triumph, he also took part in the1975 Copa América and the1982 World Cup, but missed most of the latter tournament after being injured in Argentina's second game, againstHungary.
Valdano began his management career as the Real Madrid youth team coach. In April 1992, just before the end of the1991–92 season, he became head coach ofTenerife, replacing fellow ArgentinianJorge Solari.[2] He helped Tenerife avoidrelegation at the end of 1991–92, and then the following season helped them qualify for the UEFA Cup. He also twice led Tenerife to final day victories that denied his former club Real Madrid winning the La Liga title (Barcelona winning it instead on both occasions).[3] He then returned to Real Madrid in 1994, now as a coach, and led them to the1994–95 Liga title.
He finally coachedValencia in1996–97 before becoming Real Madrid's sporting director in 2000 until his resignation in June 2005. In June 2009, he again returned to Real Madrid as director general and presidential aide. He was sacked from the position on 25 May 2011, however, after his relationship with the coaching staff, particularly head coachJosé Mourinho, had deteriorated.
Valdano wrote the bookSueños de fútbol ("Dreams of football") and edited the bookCuentos de fútbol ("Football short stories") by diverse authors.
Real Madrid's former captainRaúl named his first-born son in honour of Valdano.[4]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Newell's Old Boys | 1973[5] | Primera División | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | |||
| 1974[5] | 19 | 4 | – | – | – | 19 | 4 | |||||
| 1975[5] | 25 | 6 | – | 4 | 3 | – | 29 | 9 | ||||
| Total | 46 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 14 | ||
| Alavés | 1975–76[6] | Segunda División | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 2[a] | 1 | 26 | 4 | |
| 1976–77[6] | 30 | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 8 | ||||
| 1977–78[6] | 26 | 4 | 8 | 1 | – | – | 34 | 5 | ||||
| 1978–79[6] | 25 | 5 | 6 | 0 | – | – | 31 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 105 | 20 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 121 | 22 | ||
| Real Zaragoza | 1979–80[6] | La Liga | 34 | 9 | 6 | 4 | – | – | 40 | 13 | ||
| 1980–81[6] | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 3 | ||||
| 1981–82[6] | 29 | 9 | 9 | 9 | – | – | 38 | 18 | ||||
| 1982–83[6] | 34 | 17 | 4 | 3 | – | 6[b] | 4 | 44 | 24 | |||
| 1983–84[6] | 29 | 8 | 4 | 5 | – | – | 33 | 13 | ||||
| Total | 143 | 46 | 23 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 172 | 71 | ||
| Real Madrid | 1984–85[6] | La Liga | 26 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 2[b] | 2 | 40 | 23 |
| 1985–86[6] | 32 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 7 | – | 47 | 24 | |||
| 1986–87[6] | 27 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | 33 | 9 | |||
| Total | 85 | 40 | 8 | 2 | 25 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 120 | 56 | ||
| Career total | 379 | 117 | 45 | 24 | 29 | 15 | 10 | 7 | 463 | 163 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 1975 | 2 | 2 |
| 1982 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1985 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 8 | 4 | |
| 1987 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 23 | 7 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 July 1975 | Estadio Centenario,Montevideo, Uruguay |  Uruguay | – | 3–2 | Friendly | [7] |
| 2 | – | ||||||
| 3 | 16 June 1985 | Estadio Monumental,Buenos Aires, Argentina |  Colombia | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification | [8] |
| 4 | 2 June 1986 | Estadio Olímpico Universitario,Mexico City, Mexico |  South Korea | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1986 FIFA World Cup | [9] |
| 5 | 3–0 | ||||||
| 6 | 10 June 1986 | Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City, Mexico |  Bulgaria | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1986 FIFA World Cup | [10] |
| 7 | 29 June 1986 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico |  West Germany | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1986 FIFA World Cup | [11] |
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Tenerife | 13 April 1992 | 30 June 1994 | 96 | 40 | 26 | 30 | 041.7 | |
| Real Madrid | 1 July 1994 | 22 January 1996 | 78 | 39 | 17 | 22 | 050.0 | |
| Valencia | 25 November 1996 | 15 September 1997 | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 030.6 | |
| Total | 210 | 90 | 54 | 66 | 042.9 | |||
Newell's Old Boys
Real Madrid
Argentina Youth
Argentina
Awards
Real Madrid
Argentina squads | |||||||||||||
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